The Submission

Paul Rubin holds a small gathering of the jury in his home to officially congratulate Mohammed Khan as the winner of the competition. Claire waxes on to Khan about the beauty of the garden design. Khan does not feed her need for thanks for coming to his defense because he feels no congratulations are necessary for doing the decent thing.

Feeling uncomfortable about the small affair when he knows any other entrant would have received a large venue full of press, Mo calls Laila to meet for dinner at a quiet restaurant. He’s been thinking about her a little too frequently. When he had tried to hold her hand, she resisted, saying she needed to observe MACC’s beliefs in order to be part of the organization. She invites him for tea, then they enter her building at separate times and separate entrances to ensure they are not discovered.

Claire realizes that she had expected Khan’s gratitude. When she looks at the picture of the jury and Khan in the press, she disapproves that he is smiling while he is surrounded by dour faces. She looks at the Times art section to see if they’ve critiqued it and weighed in.